Friday, May 2, 2008
Primary push leaves BehrenSPpumped
By Connor Sattely
entertainment editor
t'isso6o@’ psu.edu
April 19, 2008
Somewhere amidst the churning crowd,
freshman Pat Troester began to realize the
gravity of the situation. He knew that Sen.
Barack Obama’s (D-IL) visit Friday, April 18
in the Junker Center could be the most
important event of his college career.
Troester arrived at the Junker Center
around 8:15 a.m. to see an assembled crowd
of hundreds. Some Obama supporters
arrived as early as 6:30 a.m. to wait for the
doors to open. Though many people were
pro-Obama, Troester wasn’t sure. “I'm on
the fence right now.” he said. He mentioned
that President Clinton's speech in Erie Hall
made him consider Hillary more closely.
Only 250 tickets were distributed to
Behrend students. Many Erie residents were
able to obtain tickets at Obama’s headquar
ters downtown. Some were unable to get
tickets, but made the trip anyway. Three high
school students drove an hour from Warren,
Pa., even though they didn’t have tickets.
“We stood by the line with a big sign,” they
said. "Eventually, people just gave us their
extra tickets.”
Clinton drums up support for Hillary
•tccgan McGregor/1 m. ...
Former President Bill Clinton rallied support for his wife. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) at Erie Hall
By Lenny Smith
news editor
Irsso46@psu.edu
April 19, 2008
A line had already formed as early 8 a.m. on April
16 with eager students, faculty, and community
members that wanted a chance to see Former
President Bill Clinton. President Clinton’s visit to
Penn State Behrend was his second campaign stop
in Erie over the last month. He has been traveling
all over the country in an attempt to rally support
for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).
While the crowd waited to get into the hall,
Clinton campaigners walked around with forms
everyone had to fill out in order to be allowed in the
building. When the crowd was allowed to start
entering the building around 9:15 a.m., the line had
weaved down the sidewalk toward College Drive
and then back around through the grass next to Erie
Hall.
Suite life is a
By Connor Sattely
staff writer
dsso6o@psu.edu
Oct. 7, 2007
Like most incoming freshmen, Jason Hudson was
nervous about what his first dorm room would be
like. Imagine his surprise when he discovered his
rooming arrangement would include his own dou
ble-size bed, private housekeeping twice a week,
his own bathroom, Wi-Fi Internet, and a 27-inch
TV. His room, however, would be located several
miles down the road at the nearby Days Inn.
Hudson, a freshman from Franklin, PA, arrived at
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Opinion
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Contents
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4 Student Life...
..5 Music..
As the Junker Center's gym filled, the
energy in the room grew until Bob Casey
arrived on stage. The crowd exploded in
applause as Casey stepped up to the podium,
thanking Erie and Pennsylvania for their sup
port. In his remarks, he encouraged his lis
teners to “go out over the next few days and
work like you have never worked before."
When Casey called Obama onstage, the
noise was deafening as the crowd broke out
in an inspired chant of “Yes we can." one of
the Illinois senator’s campaign slogans. His
main points included healthcare, foreign pol
icy and education reform.
"Hillary Clinton tried to fix the healthcare
system in 1993.” he said. "The problem was.
she did it behind closed doors. 1 will do it out
in the open, and consult the American people
about what they think."
When talking about foreign policy. Obama
drew upon many popular thoughts as he
spoke about the Middle East. “We're fighting
two wars right now." he said. "One we must
win. and that's the war in Afghanistan. The
other. 1 think we never should have started. I
opposed that war in Iraq in 2002. and I will
end it by 2012."
Obama's plan of withdraw ing from Iraq
included free Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
screenings for all veterans and mental assis-
While the crowd that filled Erie Hall waited for
the former president to arrive, songs like "Don’t
Stop Believin'" by Journey blasted through the
speakers before local, high-ranking democrats took
the stage.
Cheers star Ted Danson. a close family friend of
the Clintons, introduced President Clinton.
In a one-on-one interview with The Behrend
Beacon. Danson said, “I find her to be the most
authentic and truthful. She has done this for thirty
five years, not sparatically that speaks trust.”
“I would like to he introduce you to my favorite
president, so far,” Danson said, ending his introduc
tion of President Clinton.
President Clinton said Hillary has extensive plans
to produce alternative energy, provide affordable
healthcare for every American, make college more
affordable, and a way to bring the men and women
serving our country home safely.
See PRESIDENT on page 2.
retty sweet life: Days Inn home for students
Penn State Behrend in July to schedule his classes,
and found out that the campus had about 330 stu
dents who had no place to stay on campus. He
quickly became part of a long waiting list including
many confused freshmen. It wasn’t until the
FTCAP meetings that Hudson found what became
his only option - a nearby hotel, the Days Inn.
Tony Bruno, of Scott Enterprises, Days Inn’s par
ent company, offered the students on the waiting list
a different solution to the problem.
“Early one week I received a phone call from a
frustrated woman.” he recalls, "who needed alterna
tive for housing her daughter.” After that, says
A Penn State Behrend Student Publication f HAY 0 4 rk'q Vol. LIV No. XXIV
tance to all soldiers returning from war. "We
need to start taking care of our veterans," he
said.
He said that his plan for the education sys
tem was an added emphasis on early educa
tion to close the achievement gap. College
students would be offered tax credit in
exchange for community service.
In the question and answer session. Obama
seemed confident and poised as he answered
questions regarding college loans, veteran
disability and healthcare.
For the last question, a disabled veteran
was given a microphone by Obama personal
ly, and simply thanked him on behalf of vet
erans for running. The crowd gave the man a
standing ovation, and Obama used the ener
gy to finish his speech with repetitions of
several phrases he had used earlier.
"How do you get yourself out of a hole?”
Obama asked. "Stop digging.”
After Sen. Obama had left, the crowd filed
out. buzzing w'ith energy. Troester says it
was then that he realized how much the
speech had changed him. "The energy in the
room was great.” he says. "There were so
many people in there agreeing about stuff
that makes sense." He paused a moment to
reflect. "I’m sold." he said. "I'm voting for
Obama."
nny Smith
news editor
Irsso46@psu.cdu
April 19, 2008
As students and community
members packed McGarvey
Commons for Sen. Ted
Kennedy’s (D-MA) rally in sup
port of Sen. Barack Obama, (D
-IL) many were hoping to find a
deciding factor to help them make
up their mind about the upcoming
primaries.
A roar erupted from the audi
ence as Kennedy began his rally.
"Well, I bring you wonderful
good news,” Kennedy yelled.
“Nine months from now George
Bush will not be President of the
United States.”
“I understand there are two
important dates left in the calen-
Bruno, the calls began to flood in. Days Inn first
contacted the school with only around a month left
before the start of classes. Bruno and Scott
Enterprises decided to offer what became almost an
entire floor of the Days Inn hotel to students with no
on-campus housing contracts.
So, on move-in day, Hudson found himself in a
group of 32 students who would be living, at least
temporarily, in a hotel room for college. Each morn
ing, a 15-person van leaves the hotel at 7:30 a.m. to
transport the students to the campus. Another leaves
the Reed parking lot almost thirteen hours later at
8:00 p.m. to drive them back to the hotel. Between
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Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) delivered a crowd pleasing speech in his first
visit to Erie on the campaign trail.
dar,” he joked. "One is April 22,
because its primary day. And the
other is May 9. Does anyone
know what May 9 is? Last day of
classes.”
Kennedy continued the connec
tion to college-age students in a
one-on-one interview with The
Behrend Beacon, Kennedy said
that the biggest difference
between Obama and Sen. Hillary
Clinton (D-NY) is difference
between the past and the future.
“Senator Clinton has been there
and done it,” he said. “But it rep
resents the past. I think Barack
Obama represents the future, rep
resents the young people, repre
sents a sense of hope and idealism
that young people have.”
Kennedy got down to business
and did not waste time telling the
crowd that Obama is different and
represents the future of American
politics
"I think we have a candidate
that is bringing a new opportunity
and a new vision." Kennedy said.
Kennedy said that Obama has
vision about what we are going to
do.
“He understands that one of the
central challenges of this nation,
whether it is in Eric. Pennsylvania
or so many parts of this state is we
are going to have to restore our
economy.” he said.
“And then 1 remembered being
in the United States Senate just a
few days before the Senate made
its judgement to go to war in
Iraq,” Kennedy said. "There were
only eight of us that were omitted
See KENNEDY on page 2.
the two shuttles, the students are unable to return to
their rooms, unless they can find an alternative ride.
That, says Hudson, is fine with him.
“It’s not that bad having to stay at the campus all
day,” Hudson says. “I spend most of my time at the
gym, lifting and getting sidetracked there. I study
when I have to, and I definitely have extra time to
do it.”
Mikhail Cooperberg, a junior who also elected to
live in the hotel, couldn’t disagree more.
"It sucks,” states Cooperberg, who roomed in
Niagara and Ohio his first two years at Behrend.
See HOUSING on page J.